July 10, 1920 - Sister Sally Liota - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Sister Sally Liota, supporter of Canadian immigrants to Halifax, is born. Salvatrice (Sally) Liota was born on July 10, 1920 in Hamilton, Ontario. Her parents had left Italy years before, coming through Ellis Island in New York before settling in Canada. After high school, Liota took business education and supervised workers in a radio factory. Her life took a turn in 1944 when she joined the Catholic religious order the Sisters of Service and had her first posting at the port of Montreal, where she greeted newly arriving immigrants until 1955. Liota moved to Halifax and became a fixture, along with other sisters of the order, helping Italian immigrants at their first place of call in their new country. At Pier 21, passengers would step off a boat into a large hall with immigration officials waiting and very little or no English to help them understand the process. Sister Liota would act as an interpreter for Italians, help parents with sick children after a difficult voyage, and alert churches across the countries of the newly arriving members to their community. In 1966, Pope Paul VI honoured Liota with special recognition for her work. In 1971, when most immigrants were coming to Canada by plane, Pier 21 closed. Liota moved to Toronto, where she worked to provide support for the residences of the order. On February 13, 2007, Liota died in Toronto at the age of 86. At the memorial service, many people spoke of their first image of Canada including a glimpse of a tiny nun with a warm smile to welcome them to their new life. Today, Pier 21 is a national historic site.

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